From Russia with love..

3 May 2016

By Katy Davies

When British astronaut Tim Peake blasted off in the Soyuz rocket on his way to the International Space Station last December it was a highlight in the gradual thaw in icy relations with Russia since the end of the Cold War.

This year Moscow has lent paintings that have never left Russia before to the National Portrait Gallery in London for its current Russia and the Arts: the age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky exhibition, and the NPG has loaned Russia its portraits of Shakespeare and Byron in return.
Add to the current arts and science cordiality, the wildly popular new BBC adaptation of War and Peace that had Britain glued to the TV on Sunday nights, and it is no wonder holidays in Russia are selling like hot samovars.
And it is not just international relations that are warming up. As the former Soviet Union emerges from its harsh winter, with spring in the air and summer on its way, now is the time to plan a trip to the former Soviet Union.

Whether you choose to pop in on a Baltic cruise, join an escorted tour or take a Russian Waterways cruise between Moscow and St Petersburg, you are guaranteed memorable sights and experiences.
Baltic cities cruises offer a snapshot of Russian life and culture. Typically cruises to Russia stay in St Petersburg overnight giving plenty of time to sightsee and the opportunity to attend a ballet performance. On the same trip you can visit Tallinn, the walled Medieval capital of Estonia, the small Baltic state that broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991, and the former East German city of Rostock or reunited Berlin from the port of Warnemunde, too.

For more in-depth exploration of Moscow and St Petersburg, escorted tours in Russia offer excellent value. The Cold War might be over but Russia still comes with yards of red tape attached, so your travel company and experienced tour manager are there to sort out the details while you concentrate 100 per cent on enjoying your holiday.

Peter the Great founded St Petersburg in 1703 as a window to the West, creating a new capital for his country on the Baltic Sea. St Petersburg, with its parks and network of canals, was the imperial capital until the Russian revolution, as the many opulent palaces and grand public buildings testify. The city has changed names - to Petrograd, Leningrad and back to St Petersburg -but is still the country’s cultural capital, home to the astounding art collection housed in the Hermitage and the magnificent Mariinsky Theatre (more famous as the Kirov in the Soviet era), where Tchaikovsky’s works were premiered, with its world leading ballet and opera companies.

Moscow’s Red Square is the spot to stand and marvel at Russia’s history. Here you are surrounded by the exotic onion-domed St Basil’s cathedral, the imposing Kremlin and Lenin’s mausoleum and GUM department store, whose sparsely stocked shelves in the Soviet era have been restocked and the exterior is lit up with fairy lights resembling Harrods.

A trip on the Moscow Underground is a must, where the opulence of the platforms, with marble floors, Art Deco columns and mosaic ceilings, is eye-popping.
A twin-centre holiday combining St Petersburg with Moscow is made easy thanks to the high speed trains that can cover the 400-mile distance in four hours.

But why not take the slow route getting to the heart of Russia on its waterways? Russia cruises from Moscow to St Petersburg start and end moored in the two cities for two or three nights each so you won’t miss any of the sights. In addition you’ll witness everyday life in historic towns and villages sailing through a variety of landscapes on ten different rivers, canals with impressive locks, and lakes.

Moscow

On vast Lake Onega your comfortable vessel will moor on Kizhi Island for a visit to the open-air Museum of Wooden Architecture including a fairy-tale church with 22 onion domes, built in the early 17th-century without a single nail.

On board you could learn how to paint traditional nests of Russian dolls, a bit of the language and a folk song.
Among the fascinating places you can visit on Russian waterways cruises are two of the ‘Golden Ring’ cities north of Moscow, Yaroslavl and Uglich, among the most picturesque in Russia with coloured onion domes galore.

The ancient town of Uglich on the banks of the Volga was a favourite of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. Its most famous church, the gorily named St Dimitry of the Blood, was built to honour Ivan’s ten-year-old son from his seventh marriage, who died mysteriously of a stab wound in 1591.
In beautiful Yaroslavl, stepping into the white and yellow Governor’s House is like arriving on the set of War and Peace, complete with ballroom and guides in empire line dresses holding fans.

If you are an adventurous traveller, who loves history and cultural experiences, one of these holidays in Russia should be at the top of your bucket list.

Published by Mail Travel, a division of Associated Newspapers Limited, a company registered in England under company number 84121 with a registered office at Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT

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